


Wilted Flower

by Sanolyn



Series: Asgore Weekend 2017 [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AsgoreWeekend2017, Background Asgoriel, Chara Needs a Hug, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Picnics, Pre-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 05:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13024680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanolyn/pseuds/Sanolyn
Summary: Asgore loved his family more than anything else. He would, of course, enjoy a picnic with the people he cared about most. He would, of course, try to listen to the people he cared about most.After all, even Flowers that were mistreated could bloom beautifully again, right?Entry for Asgore Weekend 2017 (Prompt 1: Pre-game)





	Wilted Flower

**Author's Note:**

> Heya, back again with another event. I will write one day something else, I swear!
> 
> Anyway, thank you for clicking on this little ficlet of mine! I hope you can enjoy it! :>
> 
> Before starting, I want to express my deepest gratitude to [raritysdiamonds](http://archiveofourown.org/users/raritysdiamonds/pseuds/raritysdiamonds) for betaing this and her encouraging words.

Sometimes, Asgore thought that his children couldn't be more different. Not in a bad way, of course. Both of them contrasting opposites who, despite all odds, still managed to form a deep bond. They were both the greatest gift that he could have ever received. Gifts that he sometimes still couldn't believe he had been granted with.

Case in point, both of them at this very moment. Asriel and Chara sat in a field of brightly yellow buttercups, collecting flowers. Asriel was cupping his hands carefully around them, using his sharp claws to cut them gently from the stem. He was always particularly careful when it came to plants, and at that thought, Asgore felt a sense of pride swell in his chest. It was from him Asriel had learned this particular technique. He was also very sure that his son’s gentle approach was due to his lessons.

Chara, on the other hand, systematically took the delicate stem and snapped it, tearing the plant apart if it didn't work. Their sharp eyes studied them intensely, searching for the smallest discoloration or deformation, ignoring the beauty that they possessed.

The fascination and calculation in their gaze was intriguing, if very unusual. They never did anything halfheartedly, blood red eyes always deeply set on their goal. It might have seemed intimidating at first. However, their solicitude only showed how important it was to them that Asriel's flower crown was nothing short of beautiful.

Asgore only wished with a soft wince that they wouldn't discard so many of them. They could have thrived and grown into a very beautiful specimen. He didn't dare interrupt this moment, though.

His train of thought was stopped by a soft humming behind him. He didn't even need to turn to know to whom it belonged to, and still he did anyway. He simply couldn't see his wife often enough.

Currently, she was preparing a quiet place in the meadow for a picnic their children had helped her make. She spread out a blanket and began unpacking the tasty goods they had brought.

It would almost seem like a whimsical task, but those who'd think that way didn't know his wife very well and were clearly mistaken. The quiet resolution and practicality of Chara? He saw the same within his wife, only gentler. Instead of the gaze of sharp judgment on every object, his wife's was one of soft accomplishment.

A proud smile curled the lips of her snout as she watched her children, and Asgore felt like his soul might burst at that particular moment. She was positively glowing. Once, Asgore had compared it to the view of a sunrise; he had gotten a teasing roll of her eyes for his efforts, but also a blinding smile and a sudden laugh that she couldn't have suppressed if she tried. Asgore remembered a warm feeling of pride and giddiness, almost of accomplishment at her clear laugh. 

His gaze followed hers, as she kept watching Asriel and Chara. Asriel let out a chuckle and grinned mischievously. He tried to keep his face neutral afterward, but everyone could see the small twitches of his muzzle as he stood and slowly made his way to his sibling.

They lifted their head almost immediately. Chara had very good reflexes. Asgore had never really wanted to ponder why they were always seemingly on edge. 

... even in the midst of their own family.

Completely oblivious to that, Asriel brought out a flower crown behind his back and let it fall on their head, grinning from ear to ear at Chara's look of utter stupefaction.

"See! I told you I would be first!" he exclaimed, laughing as realization dawned on their sibling's expression and their bitter yet adorable look of defeat took over.

"Asriel-!" they began.

"I'm going to help mom!" he called.

With that he was almost immediately at the safety of Toriel's side, eyes glittering with the realization he had one-upped his sibling, the grin never leaving his face. He was now unpacking the food too, a little bit less refined and experienced than his wife, but giddy all the same.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Asgore saw Chara huff softly and keep working on their flower crown, now with lightning speed and a determination that bordered on roughness. 

The soft smell of Toriel's food was now wafting through his nose. Sweet and savoury all at once, comforting and warm. It smelled like Home and reminded him of the people that were his family.

With that, even Chara came to the blanket, sitting down next to Asriel almost soundlessly and dumping their flower crown unceremoniously on his head.

"Mine is prettier," they said.

Asgore saw the look of sudden hurt that crossed his son's face and was just about to reprimand his other child before he saw something flash in their eyes. They were silent afterward and Asgore took the time to sit next to his wife. 

"But you're right. You were faster..." Chara admitted. 

He and his wife shared a glance and a proud smile. 

"That's exactly right!" Asriel exclaimed.

He grabbed himself a plate and tried to imitate the grace that Toriel radiated. His attempts were clumsy, but from the look on his wife’s face, she actually found it endearing.

With that, the picnic was unofficially in progress. The food that Toriel had prepared was, yet again, absolutely perfect. It looked almost too good to eat, but the smell convinced the king otherwise. He didn't know how much he ate. However, he stopped himself the moment he took a piece of Toriel's famous butterscotch cinnamon pie.

He could practically feel the gaze on him. It was no surprise that, when he did look to the side, he found himself the subject of Chara’s calculating look. Solely trained on him, and the pie he currently had in his hands. Their cold red eyes became softer, saddened. It was not an easy feat to notice, but he liked to believe he could read his child a little bit better now. Asgore thought that he should have remembered. 

The last time Chara saw him eating this particular pie, he’d gotten very sick from it. He tried to search their gaze, to hold it, but they turned away before he could and proceeded to laugh good-naturedly at Asriel's eating habits.

Asgore was left to ponder how much they had managed to hide from all of them, until he felt a soft, warm paw on his arm. He should have also known that almost nothing escaped his wife's watchful eye.

He looked at her and her gaze was so motherly and kind, but also so sad, that he wanted to do everything for her.

"I am worried about them," she whispered.

He could only nod and envelop her smaller paws in his. 

"We can only give them the family they need. Toriel, I think they just need time and love. You are great at this."

Her soft smile made his soul soar suddenly. "I can only hope you are right."

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too, fluffybuns," she answered with a soft chuckle.

In another place, not in front of their children, their muzzles would have now connected.

In the meantime, Chara rearranged Asriel's flower crown so that it would fit him better, and they even had a small smile on their lips instead of their usually stoic face when Asriel's expression brightened.

It was moments like these that made him truly believe his own advice. 

 

* * *

 

"Father, am I a bad person?"

The picnic was finished and packed away. His wife had been led deeper into the ruins by their enthusiastic son who had found, yet again, something very interesting. Asgore and Chara were still in the meadow, and Asgore was just about to follow when his actions were halted by their child's inquiry. Asgore turned around to meet red eyes. Cold and disinterested, but there was something else. Their expression was stoic, but their stance was tense.

"What makes you think that, Chara?"

They sought eye-contact with him, and Asgore had the feeling they were looking straight into his soul.

"I've hurt Asriel. I've hurt you. I couldn't even cry. I'm different, I'm sorry..." they said.

"Chara..." Asgore began.

"I'm supposed to be an angel, right? I'm supposed to save you. What have I done to deserve that?  _ I almost killed you _ . The other monsters think I'm weird. What have I done to help you?! Why are you being so  _ kind _ to me?" they cried out.

"Chara," Asgore said and they fell quiet again, balling their fists.

He got down on his knees, carefully positioning his giant paws on their small shoulders.

"You don't have to do anything. Just...trust us. We love you. If this is about the pie, then you couldn't have known. Tell us if something bothers you. Let us help you, Chara," he told them gently.

It was no secret that Asgore liked flowers and right now he was reminded of one. Flowers that were mistreated, the ones that lacked water and vitamins, but most importantly, sunlight, were more likely to wilt. However, he found that with the right care they could bloom beautifully again, maybe even more resistant than before.

They  _ tsk _ ed and looked away, and Asgore was about to reiterate when something like resolve pooled in their blood-red eyes. They looked at him and Asgore saw determination, resolve, but also warmth.

"I love you, father," they said. 

For a short while, Asgore was shocked speechless. Chara never said such things - it came completely out of nowhere.

Nothing about that statement was the slightest bit insecure. There was a depth to it, a layer that Asgore wasn't sure he could grasp at that moment. However, he was glad at least to have the love of his child.

"I love you, too," he answered.

They bit their lip, apparently thinking about something as they chewed on it. For the first time, he saw them in a state of insecurity.

"Y-you said that-" Chara said.

"Yes?" Asgore asked them.

(Later he would wish he had insisted and prodded. That they wouldn't have changed their mind.)

"Chara!!! Look what I found!" Another voice interrupted both of them.

Asriel came running towards them, holding something carefully in his paws. His green eyes shone brightly with happiness and curiosity.

"I think it fell down!! Isn't that neat?" he laughed, and showed them a snail in a coloration none of them had ever seen before. 

"The surface is super cool, isn't it?" Asriel asked.

"Yes," Chara answered. "In some ways, it is."

Something else pooled in Asgore's stomach, something that didn't sit well. Something that he thought he should stop.

(Something that, however good his intentions might have been, made nothing better. And would lead the Underground into its darkest age.)

Suddenly, his arm was taken by his smiling wife and with the declaration of love in his mind still, he felt immensely lighter. Despite the bad feeling that had overcome him without rhyme or reason, he chose to enjoy this day with his family.

Asriel was talking animatedly, light on his feet and eyes bright. Chara followed him and once again smiled, looking almost content. They might think of themselves as evil, but Asgore had to disagree. They cared very much in their own way, even if they were afraid to show it most of the time. However, he couldn't help but tighten his grip on his wife just the slightest bit.

He really wanted to enjoy what he was given, even if it might seem unnecessary sentimental to most.

"Are you still with us, fluffybuns?" Toriel teased him.

He shook himself out of his reverie. "Of course Toriel, always."

She led him back to their cozy little home. For once, they were far away from all their duties as a royal couple.

Later, this day would be his brightest memory. A happy memory, tainted by melancholy, but he didn't dare let it ruin it fully.

It was the memory that would keep him afloat at times, remind him of his children. Of the beautiful bud that was Chara. A reminder of what he had lost, but also one of the few straws that kept him going.

And, much later, a child would arrive that reminded him uncannily of the one he had lost.

And he always listened closely to them. Helped them when they had no one else to listen. When they were afraid to admit what they had done.

He would always listen.

**Author's Note:**

> So uh, this wasn't supposed to be Angst, I swear. Then Chara sort of hijacked it. *shrugs helplessly*
> 
> I mean, people do like Angst right? (I'm sorry Asgore...)


End file.
